Welcome to the September edition of the Synercon Voice

Again we’ve had a tremendous few months, not only have we welcomed many new a.k.a.® clients as you can see to the right, but we've also welcomed Amanda Harris, our new senior consultant based in Canberra and Zenith, our a.k.a.® distributors for the state of New South Wales.

Finally after a long build-up Version 2.8 was released in late July. For those who didn't catch the last newsletter click here to find out more about the changes in version 2.8. We're keen to know what you think about 2.8 - your feedback is always welcome.

As use of a.k.a.® matures there has been an increased demand for training in advanced use of a.k.a.®. We've developed new courses - Advanced Reporting/Exporting in a.k.a.® and have two other courses in development.

The research and development team at Synercon is never idle - Version 3 is already in the pipeline with some significant functionality enhancements. We're keenly following the development of records management functionality in Microsoft 2007 products and plan that a.k.a.® will be able to deliver recordkeeping rules into the Microsoft environment. Why not read the Microsoft Records Management Team Blog to find out more.

As many of our Australian and New Zealand clients will be heading to Cairns for the RMAA 2006 Convention we've decided to hold the a.k.a.® National User Group Meeting on Sunday 17th of September from 3:30 -5:30 pm (the Welcome Reception for the Convention begins at 6:00 pm) at the Cairns Convention Centre (invitations to a.k.a.® users following!)

As usual a.k.a.® will be on display at the RMAA Convention so make sure you stop by the a.k.a.® by Synercon booth and say g'day - Conni, Eddy, Amanda and Tanya will all be there.

Eddy and Conni are heading back to the US and Canada in early September to train partners and new users in a.k.a.®.

And not to be overlooked, the last few months have produced more incredible records mishaps including privacy breaches that we’ve added to our Lest We Forget page, and of course we always bring you a new cartoon from Randy Glasbergen to lighten your day.

Conni, Eddy and the Synercon Team

Synercon would like to announce that Amanda Harris, formerly of the Territory Records Office ACT, has joined Synercon as a senior consultant based in Canberra.

Amanda brings extensive experience of the records management industry within Commonwealth and State government agencies. During her time with Territory Records, Amanda was involved in many projects including the development of ACT Whole-Of-Government Thesauri and Disposal Schedules, and Standards for Records Management. Amanda has extensive knowledge of the DIRKS process, and the use of a.k.a.® software in delivering DIRKS steps B and C.

Amanda is a member of the Australian Society of Archivists and an associate of the Records Management Association of Australasia.

With her breadth of experience and expert knowledge of a.k.a.® Amanda is an invaluable asset to Synercon and we are thrilled to welcome her to our team.

Synercon are pleased to announce the appointment of Zenith as the New South Wales distributor for a.k.a.® software.

Conni is thrilled with the arrangement and says “the growth of a.k.a.® has been so rapid that it has been hard to keep up with the demand for services. This partnership with Zenith will enable us to provide a more timely response to NSW prospects and users”.

Zenith’s RIM Consultant Helen Quaggin-Molloy is equally thrilled with the partnership and says, “We are delighted to be associated with Synercon. Zenith’s Records and Information Management Consulting Division is rapidly establishing a reputation for quality and customer value. Being a distributor of market leading tools such as a.k.a.® software allows Zenith to provide the appropriate solution be it records consulting, software or staffing.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Zenith will offer records and information management professionals across New South Wales sales and support services including product presentations and demonstrations of the software.

To contact Zenith, call 02 9413 2555 or email rims@zenmgt.com

Version 2.8 was released in July and delivers significant additional functionality to assist with recordkeeping compliance.

We've improved management of sources/legal citations and stakeholder requirements, added the opportunity to create user defined fields, and provided additional import and export facilities.

For a complete list of new and enhanced features, corrections and notes please see the Release Notes for Version 2.8 available from your login page, but for an overview just click here

To upgrade, you’ll need a current Upgrade and Support Program contract. If you don’t have a current contract, just give us a call on 02 9698 8888 and we’ll send you a quote.

In response to the many requests for advanced training in a.k.a.® we've developed the following courses:

Advanced Reporting /Exporting using a.k.a.®

The aim of this half day workshop is to enable you to output classification schemes, thesauri and disposal schedules into a range of different formats that you can change and manipulate in many different ways.

November 16th, 9:00am - 12:30pm $295 per person.

Integrating a.k.a.® and TRIM (in development)

This half day course is designed for TRIM users who wish to manage their master copies of thesauri and disposition schedules in a.k.a.®. The course covers configuration of a.k.a.®, rules for modifications, and exporting to TRIM.

Classification Modelling (in development)

This half day course is designed for business analysts who have the responsibility of creating and implementing classification schemes into EDRM and web based systems.

This course addresses analysis of classification needs, the creation of facetted classification schemes, design of file plans, and variation in EDRM functionality.

If you are interested in attending any of these courses, contact us at aka@synercon.com.au

The a.k.a.® National User group Meeting will once again be held in conjunction with the RMAA Convention, just prior to the convention Welcome reception.

Sunday September 17, 3:30 - 5:30pm
Cairns Convention Centre, Meeting Room 6 (upstairs from the main entrance).

Agenda

As with previous years, we will break into groups to discuss a range of a.k.a.® related issues, and report back to the group as a whole.

Suggested issues include:

Standards for the design of classification schemes and disposition schedules

Integration issues with EDRM systems

Functional classification  - is it the whole answer?

The benefits of publishing to the web

Please let us know if you there are additional subjects you would like to have included by contacting us at aka@synercon.com.au

Let us not forget the reasons why all organisations need healthy and robust information management systems.

This page is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of significant records management incidents or situations in which inadequate systems and poor practices contributed to the magnitude of the disaster.

We've also included a new section to report on the numerous breaches of privacy that occur eve so frequently.

New entries include:

Inadequate Corporate Recordkeeping Systems

One giant loss for mankind: NASA loses original moon tapes ... (read more)

Deleted criminal records remain active in County’s US$53 million system ... (read more)

Cemetery’s poor record keeping ends in plot mix up ...(read more)

Non Compliant Recordkeeping

American Red Cross fined US$718 000 for poor record keeping ... (read more)

Deliberate or Illegal Destruction of Records

US Consulting firm in court for disposing "virtually worthless" records...(read more)

Inappropriate Disposal of Records

'Confused' Police doctor dumps 700 documents in street bin... (read more)

Breaches of Privacy

Centrelink staff inappropriately access client files ... (read more)

24 ATO staff sacked over privacy breaches ... (read more)